


She-Ra/SPOP AU

by Little_Lotte



Series: Sharp and Shiny [5]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Looking Glass, Multi, SPOP AU, she-ra and the princesses of power - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:28:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25131643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Lotte/pseuds/Little_Lotte
Summary: Decided to try my hand at a She-Ra/Dragon age cross over because....why not? And posting it over here just to keep it together, though IDK how far I'm going to get with it. I have a ton of ideas, but who knows.
Relationships: Lavellan/Uthvir, OC/OC
Series: Sharp and Shiny [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/524539
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Looking Glass](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4867676) by [Feynite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feynite/pseuds/Feynite). 



> Uthvir (who is going by a different name in this first chapter) belongs to Feynite, as well as several other characters, if I actually write more chapters.
> 
> Ana, who gets a mention in here, and might show up soon if I write more, belongs to Lychee.
> 
> Big thanks to Scurv for actually listening to me yell random bits of plot things at her while I tried to figure this story out. <3

Aili sits on a thin metal table in one of Ghilan'nain's many labs around the Fright Zone, swinging her legs back and forth haphazardly and clutching a soft wad of gray fabric in her arms. 

She does not like checkup days. The lab is full of strange delicate-looking instruments, and softly glowing rocks and crystals that throw long sinister shadows across the room. Shelves along the walls are covered in thick books and jars full of bits of floating dead things. But the worst thing is the drain beneath her little table, surrounded by dark unsettling stains and a stench that always makes her stomach churn.

She does not like it, but Commander Ghilan'nain disapproves of fear. Fear is a weakness. Tears are a weakness. And there is no place for weakness in the Horde.

And so, Aili clings to herself and waits.

Hopefully, the Commander will not want to give her any shots today. It is always harder not to cry when there are needles and poking and blood. But sometimes her checkups are just holding different things and answering questions. She does not understand any of it very well, but at least it hurts less. Usually.

And if she is good and has replies that the Commander likes, she might even get an extra ration token.

So, it is not all bad.

Aili sticks her chubby fingers into her mouth. Worrying silently. The Commander has been gone for a while now. Called away by Lord Dirthamen for an important meeting in his sanctum. Ghilan'nain instructed her to sit still until she gets back, and so she has to, but she does not have a firm grasp of time yet, and she wonders how long she has been here.

An hour?

Maybe more?

Will she have to stay past supper time? Will she miss curfew and get scolded by the group leader of her barracks when she gets back? Is the waiting part of the checkup? Is this another test she has to pass?

She wishes the Commander would tell her the rules of the tests more often. That way, she could do and say the things she wants her to. So that Ghilan'nain will be pleased, and Aili can have the pleasure of pleasing.

Everything is much easier when the Commander is in a good mood.

Fighting against the scary princesses and their rebellion is hard work, Aili knows. Lord Dirthamen and Commander Ghilan'nain are always very busy doing the things that need to be done to keep everyone in the Horde safe. Aili does not understand much about the war, and she is too little to be able to help with it anyway, so the best she can do for now is follow the orders she is given. The Commander has high hopes for her, and she does not want to let her down.

She does not want her to get angry.

From the far side of the room, Aili hears a dull thud, as though something heavy has landed on the floor. The first sound is followed closely by a second, and although it is very quiet, she immediately recognizes it. The sound of quiet sobbing.

It is not an uncommon thing to hear in the barracks at night. There is an unspoken rule that you do not seek out the person in distress. And you do not talk about it the next day.

The barracks are all on the far side of the compound, however, so that rule probably does not apply to the case at hand.

Aili slides carefully onto the floor, making sure to avoid stepping on the drain beneath the table, and creeps over towards the wall where the noise is coming from. There is a narrow door that she had always thought was a storage closet full of more books and jars and other things that the Commander uses in her experiments. But kneeling down and peeking through the gap at the bottom of the doorframe reveals what seems to be a much deeper space than she had expected.

No sign of whoever is crying, though.

She hesitates, one hand hovering over the button to open the door, wondering just exactly how much trouble she might get into if the Commander came back and found that she had not only disobeyed direct orders, but she had gone poking around other parts of her lab without permission. Aili trembles. Afraid.

But the person crying sounds like they must be very afraid, too. And sad.

She squeezes the wad of lumpy fabric in her arms a little closer to her chest and presses the button.

The weeping stops when the door opens. The hallway looks a bit like one of the Fright Zone's prison blocks, except it is closed off from everywhere else except Ghilan'nain's lab. The light is grimy and dim and flickering, and the cells all seem to be empty.

Aili shivers again. Maybe _this_ was the test, after all. And now she has failed by going somewhere she is not meant to be. But maybe she can still close the door and get back onto the table before the commander gets back.

Something in the last cell on the left shifts the shadows on the floor.

"Hello?" Aili calls softly, slowly padding down towards the end of the corridor.

At first glance, this cell looks just as empty as the others, but there is definitely something crouching underneath the narrow cot wedged into the far corner of it. Aili gets down on her hands and knees, peering into the shadows. More curious than scared, now.

A pair of mismatched eyes stare back at her. One such a deep brown that it nearly looks black in the darkness beneath their bed. The other so blindingly blue that it makes Aili blink just to look at it.

"Hello," Aili tries again, offering a little wave.

The figure under the bed does not move.

"It's checkup day," she continues, undaunted, "I'm waiting for my checkup. Are you waiting for a checkup?"

They shake their head an almost imperceptible amount.

'No.'

"You get in trouble?" she tries instead, "The Commander ground you for bein' bad?"

They shake their head 'no' again, but their shoulders seem to shake a bit.

"You can come out if you wanna," Aili says gently, "S'okay. I won't tell you were crying."

Another shake of the head, fervent this time.

"My name's Aili," she tells them, lisping slightly, "And this is Socks."

She holds up the lump of gray fabric so that they can see it. It appears to have been mouthed at quite a bit, and there is a crude attempt at a smiling face drawn with what looks like black marker. One eye is noticeably bigger than the other, and there is a large blot on one side of its mouth.

"He's called Socks 'cause he's made of socks," she explains, and indeed, it does seem to be nothing more than several old worn out socks stuffed into another and knotted at one end, "He helps me be less afraid of things, sometimes. I made 'im."

No reply.

"You can hold him a lil'bit. If you want," she offers hesitantly, not entirely comfortable with the suggestion herself, "Maybe he can make you less afraid, too. Then you can come out."

Very slowly, the figure under the bed slides out from their hiding place and crouches on the floor, staring at her intently. They have a mess of shoulder length brown hair that seems at odds with the delicate features of their face. They seem like they might be around the same age as she is, but they are not dressed in the typical uniform of a Horde cadet. They have long lashes, and smooth golden skin, and claws that look sharp enough to rip through anything.

Aili has never seen anyone like them before.

"Cannot come out," they tell her in a hoarse whisper.

"Oh," she replies breathlessly, still a little awestruck.

A few beats of silence pass.

"Are you…a princess?" Aili wonders, "Commander says they're pretty, but also bad and evil, so we gotta fight 'em."

"I…do not think so," they say uncertainly, wrapping their arms around their knees and squeezing, "You…came to fight me?"

"I didn't know you were here," Aili assures them, shaking her head in the negative, "I didn't even know _here_ was here."

She looks them over again, still trying to puzzle things out.

"If you're not a princess, and you're not a cadet…what're you doin' in here anyway?" she asks, "Where'd you even come from?"

"Always here," they reply with a shrug, "Sometimes the lady comes and does things. But mostly just the room and the dark."

"Oh." Aili frowns. "So…you've always been alone?"

"Used to be…others," they tell her flatly, gesturing at the cell across from their own.

"What happed to 'em?" Aili wonders, turning her head to look at the little empty living space they had pointed to.

"Gone." They say, lowering their gaze to the floor. "Lady says failures are unacceptable."

"What'd they fail at?"

They shrug again, despondent.

Aili does not have much experience with being lonely. Or at least, not in the way they seem to be lonely. Someone is always watching in the Horde. People tend to run in packs. They are trained in units, and made to eat and sleep and work together all the time. She cannot really imagine what it must be like to never be around other people. To not have any friends.

She puts a chubby hand against the force field that blocks their cell door.

"What's your name?" She questions.

"Name?" they echo back at her, brow furrowing in obvious confusion.

"What's the lady call you?" she asks instead. "I'm called Aili. Remember?"

"No names," they tell her, "No calling. Names are for people. For things that are useful."

"You're not a people?" Aili blinks.

They shake their head again.

"You look like people to me," she informs them.

Their cheeks pink a bit and they hug their knees tighter.

"But…I am not," they whisper, "The lady said so."

"Well…can I give you a name anyway?" Aili asks.

It is their turn to blink at her now.

"Can you?"

"Sure!" she beams at them, "I'm good at naming. I named Socks!"

They creep closer to the doorway on hands and knees, clearly ready to dart back into hiding at a moment's notice. Then they sit again, curled tightly into themselves once more. Their mismatched eyes regarding her curiously now.

"What makes a name good?" They wonder.

"Um," Aili pauses to consider for a moment, "A good name should be the name of something good. You're good, so your name should be something good, too."

"I'm…good?" they check, sounding astonished by the prospect.

"Course you are!" she affirms confidently.

"How can you tell?" they ask.

"Because I like you," she grins, "So, that means you're good."

"Oh." They blink. Their face seems to transition through several different emotions before settling somewhere very close to a smile. They scooch closer to the doorway, and press their palm against the forcefield in the same place she has hers.

"I like you, too."

Aili giggles. Buoyant.

"I'm gonna call you Applesauce," she declares, still grinning from ear to ear.

"What is applesauce?" Applesauce questions, brow furrowing slightly.

"It's the most tastiest thing," Aili explains, "We don't hardly ever get it anymore, 'cause most of it is for the really little kids who can't chew good. It's sweet."

"Sweet?"

"You've never had a sweet?" Aili frowns.

"I…do not know," Applesauce replies. "What is it like?"

"It's something so good you want to have it all the time," she tells them.

"I do not think I have had something like that," Applesauce says, shaking their head.

"Next time we have it in the mess, I'll sneak you some," Aili whispers loudly, a spark of mischief in her eye.

"Does that mean…I will see you again?" they ask, achingly hopeful.

"Yeah!" Aili grins. She pauses for a moment as a thought seems to strike her, uncertainty stealing over her face. "I'm…not sure when, though. Your room is hard to get to. But I'll try to come soon as I can, promise."

"What is promise?" Applesauce tilts their head at her.

"Hm," Aili mulls it over, "A promise is super strong words. You can't break 'em. You gotta do what the promise is, or bad stuff happens."

"Bad stuff?"

"Yeah, people will get mad, and you maybe get in trouble," she explains further, "It depends how big the promise is."

"So…if you do not come, you will get the bad things?" Applesauce asks, their eyes wide with worry.

"Well…maybe," Aili concedes, "But I want to see you again."

They do not seem to know what to make of that. It almost looks like they are about to cry. They put their other hand against the forcefield, sharp claws screeching slightly as they press into the energy of it. Trying to break through to her.

"I want-"

They both freeze at the sound of the door opening.

"Aili?" the Commander's voice rings out, cold and sickly sweet. "What are you doing in here?"

In a flash, Applesauce darts back under their cot, shaking from head to toe.

"I-I heard a noise," Aili flounders, clutching at Socks and looking at her feet.

Ghilan'nain has a way of holding perfectly still that nevertheless manages to convey the idea of a threat. She stands just within reach of her ward, long pale hair billowing slightly in the aura of her magic, twisting around the antlers on her head. An intricate silver headpiece sets across her brow, a single bright gemstone glistening at its center like a drop of blood in the dim lighting. The bottom half of her face is covered, as always, by a white mask. It has been artfully crafted to mimic her real features as though they had been cast in marble; cheeks touched with the faintest brush of blush; lips curled in a permanent perfect smile. Only the molten emotion in her eyes ever gives her true feelings away.

She stares down at Aili like a statue carved from ice and snow and malice. Like a silver dagger held aloft by a hand quaking with rage. Waiting for it to fall is almost as bad as the blow itself.

Almost.

"I see," is all she says, but her golden eyes narrow in apparent anger, and Aili trembles despite herself.

"I thought…maybe something fell," Aili bites her lip, getting to up and putting her hands behind her back, head hanging in shame, "I thought it was just a closet, and then...it wasn't, so…"

"So, you became curious, and decided to explore part of my private laboratory without permission," Ghilan'nain concludes for her, her tone deadly soft, "Well…you know what they say about curiosity."

She places a gloved hand on the keypad to Applesauce's cell. The forcefield drops. Aili's heartbeat thunders in her ears.

"What?" she barely manages to squeak out.

"Curiosity _killed_ _the cat_." The Commander tells her, voice still deathly calm, even as the dark shadow of her magic stretches across the room and forcefully rips her new friend from their hiding place.

Applesauce screams in abject terror.

"I did not mean to!" they wail, struggling against the shadows as they are bodily hefted in the air until they are at eye level with the Commander. They keep repeating it over and over, trying to assert their innocence. "I will be quieter in the future! I will be good! _I'll be good!_ "

"Good?" Ghilan'nain scoffs, "As if you were capable of such a thing. I kept you around because you showed a minimal amount of promise, and I thought that perhaps you could be taught what I could not breed in you. But now you are corrupting one of my most talented students."

"Please!" Aili begs, daring to grab a fistful of Ghilan'nain's dress, "It's not their fault!"

"And who else is to blame, then?" the Commander sneers, tossing Applesauce against the far wall with a casual flick of her hand, "You said yourself that they were making noise in here. Enough that you were compelled to disobey my direct orders. Should they not be punished for distracting you and leading you astray?"

Applesauce does not move from where they land when they hit the floor. If they are hurt, they are much too scared to voice it aloud. Their mismatched eyes are blown wide with dread. Their claws scraping trenches into the tiles near their feet. Desperately wanting to run, but not daring to. 

"They already said they're sorry," Aili objects, stepping between her friend and her mentor, "I'm sorry, too! I'll listen better next time! Jus' don't hurt them anymore, please."

A tear slides down Aili's cheek.

Ghilan'nain tilts her head slightly, curious. Calculating.

"Are you indeed sorry, little thing?" the Commander wonders, turning her piercing gaze back to the figure huddled on the floor.

Applesauce nods their head fervently.

"Truth be told, I was thinking that it was about time to dispose of you anyway," Ghilan'nain drawls, "Sorry or not, the inconvenience of spending more time and effort on your development outweigh the foreseeable advantages. It would be much better to have done with you and start from scratch."

She glides forward a few steps. The child by the wall pales, trembling like a leaf. The other bodily flings herself over them as a shield.

"No!" Aili protests, "You can't take my Applesauce! They're my best friend!"

"Your…applesauce?" Ghilan'nain echoes, seemingly baffled for an instant.

"Yeah," Aili sniffles, still doing her best to be defiant, despite her own fear, "They didn't have a name, so I named 'em. An' I promised to see them again. But I can't see them if you make them go away! I can't break my promise!"

"…I see," the Commander says archly, "And what will you do to earn this favor, if I should grant it to you? Your… _Applesauce_ is a considerable expense. And an eyesore."

"I'll do _anything_ ," Aili vows, wrapping her arms around her friend's shoulders. They tense at first, but the expression on their face when they gaze up at her is one of awe.

"In that case, I would expect you to not only follow every command I give you flawlessly, but ensure that they do as well," Ghilan'nain tells her, moving close enough to loom over them. "You will be responsible for them. Their mistakes are your mistakes. Their achievements are your achievements. Teach them well, and you will have a capable underling. Fail…and I will rescind my generosity."

"I'll be good," Aili says solemnly, "And I'll take good care of them. For always. I _promise_."

~

"You can sleep in my bed tonight, if you want," Aili tells Applesauce later, once her checkup is finished and Ghilan'nain had dug up a spare cadet uniform for them and all but toss them both out of her lab, "It can be a little scary if you're all alone. Tomorrow you can meet everyone else, an' I can show you 'round more places. It's kinda late now."

"Others?" Applesauce blinks. They still look on edge. Disbelieving, as though waiting for the Commander to reappear at any second and drag them back to their cell.

"Yeah, a bunch of other kids sleep in this barracks, too," she explains, "Vena, Taz and Ana. We're all part of the same unit, so we do almost everything together all the time. They're at dinner right now, but they'll be back soon."

"Oh," is all Applesauce can think to say. They seem like they cannot decide if the prospect of other children is delightful or petrifying.

Aili climbs into her bunk and pulls the blanket up, then looks back and gestures for Applesauce to join her. They hesitate for a moment, but eventually they crawl in beside her. She grins at them as they lay their head against her pillow.

"Wanna hold Socks for a bit?" she wonders.

They nod, and accept the pathetic attempt at a toy with an air of almost reverence. The pair lay together in silence for a while. Their minds racing with everything that had happened today and how it might change their futures now.

"What is…friends?" Applesauce asks quietly, darting a glance in Aili's direction.

" _We're_ friends," Aili says with a tired grin, her eyes beginning to droop a bit, "Friends are people you like to be with. People who look out for you, and you look out for them, too."

"You said I was a… _best_ friend," they reminder her, "Is it different?"

"Your best friend is the friend you like best," Aili explains through a yawn, "You're my favorite, so you're my best friend. For always, just like I told the Commander."

"And you will…'look out' for me?" Applesauce checks, mildly disbelieving.

"We'll look out for _each other_ ," Aili clarifies, reaching over to take hold of one of their hands and squeezing it a little, even as her eyes slip shut, "That way nothing really bad can happen. If we stay together, we'll be fine."

"You promise?" Applesauce whispers, scooching a little closer and pressing their forehead against hers. Face to face on her little pillow.

"I promise," Aili breathes out, drifting to sleep with a smile. 


	2. The Sword

More than ten years pass, and in that time the Horde grows, and Aili grows, and yet somehow the war keeps dragging on. No matter how hard their soldiers push the rebels back, the Princesses keep finding ways to stir up trouble. Harassing their outposts, destroying supply lines, and instigating fights in territories already under the protection of Lord Dirthamen.

Disturbing the peace.

But not for much longer.

Aili is a senior cadet, and her team is an exemplary unit. Her squad is fast and efficient, and once they graduate and start getting real assignments, they are going to turn the tide. Monstrous amounts of magical firepower against them or no, they are going to wipe those Princesses off of Etheria once and for all.

And at last, the world will be safe.

For now, though, it is just another day of fighting drills. 

She pulls her hair back into its customary ponytail as she trots out of the locker room and down the hall to the simulator that her team has been assigned today. The rest of them are already geared up and in position. Elana is focused, fiddling with the specs on her training goggles. Venavisimi is eager, shifting on the balls of his feet. Tasallir looks…like he does not want to be here, which is typical. And, of course, her best friend is…

Aili groans internally.

"Pst," she whispers at Ana, "Have you seen Uthvir?" 

The redhead shrugs.

"They're _your_ shadow, aren't they?" Vena snorts.

Aili runs a hand over her face in exasperation. Uthvir has dealt with a lot of trials and tribulations growing up in the Horde. Not least of which was trying to live down the moniker 'Applesauce', once they had realized that it was, in fact, a ridiculous name for a child. She gets that they feel a need to press boundaries now and again. Not in rebellion, precisely, but as a means to test the limits of how far they can reach in any particular direction before someone shoves them back in line. She _gets_ it. Maybe better than anyone else.

But she still wishes they would try to show up to training on time. 

"Uthvir is missing again?" the drill sergeant frowns is disapproval, scribbling something down on the clipboard in their hands.

"They're just running a little behind," Aili assures them hastily, "They'll be here any second now, I'm sure of it."

The officer hums in disbelief, rolling their eyes.

"Alright cadets," they continue a moment later, "Today you'll be on a stealth mission through the treacherous Whispering Woods that surround the Rebel fortress Bright Moon. Keep your guard up! The terrain shifts at random intervals, and the Princesses will attack you without warning or mercy. Your mission is defeat the Queen, and liberate Bright Moon in Lord Dirthamen's name."

They turn to press a few buttons on the keypad behind them, sending the door to the simulator open with a hiss.

"Begin!"

The team moves into the room the same way the always do. Aili rushes ahead to take point. Vena and Ana slide into their usual positions behind her, each one covering a flank. Taz brings up the rear, a ranged fighter by both preference and necessity. A rare mage in the Horde. Typically, Uthvir is her right hand. Scouting ahead so that Aili can safely lead the others through their intended course.

But today it looks as though she is going to have to do without.

She grips the staff in her hands. Annoyed.

Still, things move along smoothly enough. They have all done this before. Her squad sticks to the relative safety provided by the cover of 'trees', keeping a sharp eye out for the bots designed to play the part of rebel insurgents. A bit of the scenery shifts, but nothing too drastic. Vena steps on a floor tile that blinks red and falls away, but Ana catches hold of his arm and yanks him back to safety. No harm done.

And then everything goes quiet.

Aili holds up a hand to halt the rest, sensing something shifting above them in the shadows. It does not seem like a bot. Or at least, not like any bot they have encountered before. She narrows her eyes at the fake metallic canopy, weighing her options. There is something oddly familiar about the way the thing following them moves. If she could just-

A laser blast fires behind her, followed by a loud shriek.

"Tasallir!" Vena exclaims, exasperation and worry mingling in his voice. "Why are you always the first one down?"

"It is hardly _my_ fault we were just standing around waiting to get shot!" Tasallir protests, glaring down at the blinking red X on his chest plate.

"Oh yeah?" Venavisimi grins as Ana helps their comrade back to his feet, ever careful to only touch him where his skin is covered by armor, "And what was your excuse the last three times it happened?"

"I do _not_ -" Taz begins before Aili cuts him off, her eyes still fixed on the trees.

"Guys! This is really not the time for-"

The laser fires again, and Aili barely manages to raise her shield in time to block it. The others turn to see a swarm of spider-like bots descending from the branches, each one projecting the twisted snarl of a feral princess. There is a general outcry of dismay.

"Run!" Aili shouts, leading them further into the room and away from the barrage of gunfire.

Ana turns and tosses a grenade at their pursuers. Vena manages to get a grappling hook around the leg of one bot and tug it down out of the trees at Aili's feet. Their de facto leader promptly jams the end of her staff into its core processor before kicking the wreckage to one side.

"We're almost there!" Ana pants out.

Sure enough, a clearing opens up a few moments later and a huge robot descends from the ceiling, the cackling face of the wicked Queen of Bright Moon leering down at them.

"Don’t let her pin you down!" Aili commands, leaping into the bot's direct line of sight in order to distract it from her squadmates. As instructed, the other two fan out, doing their best to flank it. However, the bots from the fake forest burst into the clearing behind them shortly afterwards, drawing Ana and Vena away.

Aili grits her teeth. Right. Up to her, then.

She targets the bot's numerous spindly legs, ever the weak point on this model, and continues to dance just beyond where its turret lasers can fire on her. Several of the tiles beneath her feet begin blinking a warning that they are about to fall away. Darting past them, she quickly uses her staff to vault up on top of the robot's head.

With all her strength, Aili kicks the turret closest to her, snapping it off from the rest of the bot's body and sending to crashing to the floor below. Then she turns and jams her staff into the groove where the head pivots from, prying away armor and wiring as she goes. The robot falters. Sways. Makes a few sputtering beeps as though it might be in its death throes.

And then a spear comes flying out of nowhere and hits the robot dead-on in its optic's unit.

There is an angry crackle, followed closely by an explosion that tosses Aili halfway back towards the trees, yelling and cursing all the way.

She hits the ground hard as the bot crumples in on itself. A dozen of the tiles on the floor beneath it begin flashing red. Gasping and sore, Aili scrabbles away from them on her hands and knees as they begin to fall away, taking the 'Queen of Bright Moon' with them. Her hand tightens one her staff.

The bot might be down, but she still has some butt to kick.

"Uthvir!" Aili growls in irritation as a figure in red jumps lightly down from the simulated canopy, "You dirty cheat! That was a cheap trick and you know it!"

The dirty cheat in question saunters over to her with a smirk that speaks of anything but contrition.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Aili demands, struggling to get back to her feet.

Uthvir merely grins wider, revealing a mouth full of very sharp teeth, and points at the tile she is standing on.

Aili looks down just in time to see the lighting flashing beneath her feet right before it vanishes. She turns her staff at the last second, propping it against the edges of the pit to catch herself, but it is a near thing. She curses under her breath.

Uthvir laughs. Delighted. Coming to the edge of the hole she has fallen into and peering down at her with an expression of unabashed amusement.

"Aw, look at you hanging down there like a little bat," they snicker, leaning over the edge and looming over her. "Hey Aili."

"Hey yourself," she grunts. "And just how long were you lurking in the shadows while we did all the real work?"

"The entire time, naturally," they smirk, inspecting the sharp points of their nails. Nonchalant.

"Hmph. Typical." Aili frowns.

"Always such a sore loser," Uthvir tuts, still smirking unrepentantly.

"I didn't _los_ e," Aili insists loudly, "You _cheated_. You waited until I had it on its knees, and then you stole the kill shot!"

"The ends justify the means," Uthvir shrugs, "Isn't that what they're always teaching us? It doesn't matter _how_ I got the shot, only that I _did_."

"It was supposed to be a _team_ effort, Uthvir," Aili rolls her eyes.

"And you all played your part as my distraction marvelously," they commend with a chuckle, extending a hand to pull her up, "Now come on and get out of there. You look absolutely ridiculous hanging down in that hole trying to scold me."

Aili snorts.

"Ass."

~

Back in the locker room, Aili puts away her gear and wipes away traces of sweat with a damp towel. Uthvir tosses her jacket at her face, and she catches it with one hand. Still frowning at them in disapproval.

"How long are you going to sulk?" Uthvir wonders smilingly, walking over and playfully poking at her cheek. "If it is any consolation, I was prepared to step in and assist you all, if the situation had called for it."

"Oh yeah?" Aili says, folding her arms across her chest, "You mean like when Taz got shot?"

"Tasallir is always getting shot," they reply with a dismissive wave of their hand.

"You can't just throw people away like that!" Aili insists.

"It was just another dumb training exercise," Uthvir says with a roll of their eyes, their amusement draining away at her tone, "Besides, some people are expendable. Others are not. That's just how the world works."

Aili sighs.

"You're right," she concedes, "I shouldn't get so worked up about a drill. I know you wouldn't abandon us in a real fight."

She lightly shoves them in the shoulder.

"Don't start quoting things the Commander says, though," she sticks her tongue out in mock disgust, "It's creepy."

"Maybe I want to be creepy," Uthvir grins.

She laughs, and they join her.

"Well, Creeper, the shot you landed on that bot was _awesome_ ," Aili beams at them, "Your aim just keeps getting better all the time."

Their chest puffs up a bit. Clearly pleased by the praise, but not quite willing to admit it.

"Well, of course it is," they say with a proud tilt of their chin, "Someone around here has to carry this team."

"Psh, good luck carrying us when you're hiding in the treetops," Aili snorts, throwing an arm around their shoulders and mussing their hair a bit, "Besides, we both know that in a fair fight, I'd totally beat you."

"Perhaps," Uthvir hums, their expression verging on mischievous as they lightly push her away, "But if that were true, it would hardly be an incentive for me to fight fairly, would it?"

Aili takes note of the gleam in their eye and preemptively begins backing away from them.

"No," she tells them firmly, "No, no, no. Uthvir, don't you _dare_ -"

But it is too late, they have already surged forward, grabbing her about the middle and tossing her over one shoulder like a bag of flour. Aili squeals in protest. Uthvir laughs, running the length of the locker room with their prize as she attempts to wriggle her way to freedom.

"Argh, when are you going to stop doing this to me?!" Aili complains, reaching down and pinching their waist. Uthvir jerks slightly, but only tightens their hold on her. They start another loop around the locker room benches.

"Maybe I will stop toting you places when you stop being so absurdly small," they snicker.

"You're only two inches taller than I am!" Aili reminds them hotly.

"Two _whole_ inches!" Uthvir agrees happily. 

"Aili," a soft cool voice calls from the door.

Uthvir immediately drops her on the floor and goes rigid.

"Ow!" Aili grouses. Then she sees the person who has come through the door and leaps to her feet, right hand automatically rising in a crisp salute. "Commander Ghinan'nain!"

"You are a senior cadet now," Ghilan'nain reminds her, gliding further into the room, "You did well today. I heard you completed your course in record time. But you should curb your penchant for indulging Uthvir's childish antics."

"Thank you, Commander," Aili replies with a nervous grin, face flushing with pride, "But you know, I can't take all the credit. My team worked really hard, and Uthvir landed the kill shot on the Queen!"

"Oh yes," Ghilan'nain drawls narrowing her eyes at them, "Believe me, I was informed of the way they neglected to arrive on time for their training session and then proceeded to disrupt your team's entire battle plan in some misguided attempt to earn themselves some shred of glory. Pathetic."

"That was not my intention," Uthvir insists in a low voice, eyes on the ground, "I was just thinking that maybe if we implemented a _different_ strategy, we could-"

" _Silence!_ " Ghilan'nain hisses, the dark coil of her magic curling around Uthvir's wrist and twisting painfully, "You were doing what you are _always_ doing- impeding Aili's progress! I have been generous up until now, but do not be so foolish as to think that my patience with your floundering is without limits." 

They wince as the magic tightens further and they begin to lose the feeling in their fingers, but they know better than to cry out.

"…I apologize, Commander Ghilan'nain," Uthvir says, bowing their head, "It will not happen again."

"See that it does not, little thing."

The magic recedes and they stumble a half step away.

"Aili, walk with me," the Commander beckons, turning to head back out the door.

Aili looks uncertainly between her mentor and her friend for a moment. Uthvir shrugs. Despondent. She reaches out and takes hold of their uninjured hand, squeezing briefly in apology and commiseration before trotting out the door after their commanding officer.

"You wanted to speak with me, Commander?" Aili asks once she has managed to catch up.

"Lord Dirthamen has been watching you," Ghilan'nain informs her with an air of cool pleasure as she continues down the hallway, "He sees what I have always seen; that you are an exceptional cadet with great promise. A perfect candidate for Force Captain."

"Force Captain?" Aili gasps in surprise and delight.

"That's right," Ghilan'nain replies, golden eyes crinkling in what might even be a smile, contorting the odd star-shapes of her pupils in a most unpleasant way, "He has decided to grant you the honor of leading the attack on the Rebel fortress of Haven."

"You mean…my team is finally going to see real action?" Aili presses eagerly, grinning from ear to ear. "That's so great! I know they're all going to be so excited. Just you wait, Commander, you won't regret giving us this chance to-"

" _Aili_ ," the Commander cuts off her chattering, "The chance is for _you_. Not your team."

"But…I have been training with them my entire life," Aili frowns, caught off guard by the revelation, "With all due respect, Commander, how can I be expected to lead a squadron full of soldiers I barely know?"

"You will adapt," the Commander shrugs, "Your team is not ready. Hardly a training session goes by where Tasallir is not incapacitated in some fashion. Elana and Venavisimi are loyal, but sloppy. And Uthvir… Well, their litany of deficiencies are hardly worth listing."

"I know Uthvir could do well in the field," Aili assures her, "They just want a chance to prove themselves. I think it's just that they're just so smart, and they get bored doing the same drills all the time, so…"

"If they were really so clever, they would have worked harder and proven that they were capable of following orders," Ghilan'nain says dismissively. 

"But…" Aili frowns.

"Is this promotion not what you have always wanted?" Ghilan'nain asks, reaching out and carefully brushing a few stray curls back from Aili's face. "Have you not been striving to reach these heights for as long as you can remember?"

" _Yes_ ," Aili admits with a long exhale of breath.

"You have _earned_ this, my child, " the Commander coos, pulling a badge with the symbol of the Horde on it from one of the many pockets in her robe and holding it out for her to take, "Do not allow Uthvir, or anyone else, to stand in the way of reaching your full potential. If you hold on to a sinking ship, it will pull you down to the depths with it. Do you want to drown?"

For a moment, Aili wavers. Her face blanches slightly with uncertainty. But then she glances out of a nearby window, taking in the twisting maze of smoke and hulking buildings of the Fright Zone. Her home.

Her expression hardens with resolve.

"No," she says, taking the badge in her hand and gripping it tightly, "I will not drown. I'm going to become a force captain, and help Lord Dirthamen save Etheria."

"Good girl," Ghilan'nain nods in approval, "I knew you were special from the moment I took you in as a baby. I knew you would be the one to rise up through the ranks. I knew _you_ would make me proud."

Aili smiles, still a little unsure, but some of her earlier excitement beginning to bleed back through.

"Report to force captain orientation tomorrow morning to be briefed on the details of your mission," Ghilan'nain orders, starting off down the hall again. Heading back in the direction of her labs. "And do _not_ disappoint me."

Aili salutes her retreating form.

"Yes, ma'am!"

~

A half an hour or so later, Uthvir finds her out on one of the numerous balconies. One of their favorite haunts. She is leaning out over the railing and into the wind, blonde curls blowing gently about her face. Pensive and silent.

"So…what did the Commander want to see you for?" they wonder.

Aili starts a little, but turns to flash a grin at them, looking a bit sheepish.

"Well, it's kind of crazy but-"

"Is that a force captain's badge?" Uthvir cuts her off, plucking the item in question off of her jacket and holding it up to the light. Their eyebrows shoot up towards their hairline. "Did you get _promoted_?"

The guilt on Aili's face seems to increase.

"Well, yeah. I guess…but-"

"This is so great!" they exclaim, taking her by the shoulders, "We are finally going to leave the Fright Zone! See the world! Beat the shit out of all those Rebel Assholes!"

Aili hangs her head a bit, not meeting their eyes.

"Commander Ghilan'nain says…I'm the only one moving up," she confesses.

"What?" Uthvir balks.

"She told me that the rest of you still need more training," Aili says, her expression apologetic.

"More training?" Uthvir scoffs, "I could train for a hundred years, and she would _still_ insist I was not good enough. My time was just as good as yours today, and I even got the kill shot. But it just wasn't enough. …It will never be enough for her. She hates me."

"She's…hard on all of us," Aili tries, reaching out and putting a hand on their shoulder, "She wants us all to be the best that we can be. She just expects a lot from you because-"

"She wants me to be _you,_ " they snap, swatting her hand away, "She does not want me to be _my_ best, she wants me to be _your_ best! Little miss perfect!"

Without another word, they turn on their heel and beat a hasty retreat, carving a long sweep of claw marks across the walls in their wake. 

"Uthvir!" Aili calls after them, "Come on, you know that's not fair!"

There is no answer. She wraps her arms around herself and sighs. She knew they would take this badly, but she had not expected them to lash out like that.

The Commander has always singled them out for punishment and criticism. Aili knows that they deserve more credit than they get. They might not be suited for a command position, but they are certainly a capable fighter. It is no wonder they got so frustrated.

They always expected that they would get their first assignment together. They always do everything together. Ever since they were little.

Aili is just as disappointed by the prospect as Uthvir is, but…

She cannot give up this chance.

She will impress Lord Dirthamen and Commander Ghilan'nain. She will earn the right to ask to use her own squad on future missions. And then she and Uthvir can fight together again. Run the Horde. Save the world.

Just like they always dreamed.

But for now, the best she can do is try to think of a way to ease the sting of unavoidable separation and upset.

She smiles to herself as an idea strikes her, turning and heading out to one of the garages.

~

This time, it is Aili who comes looking for Uthvir. Climbing up to one of the highest perches in the Fright Zone, were the city sprawls out below in every direction. The sickly red and yellow lights from the buildings blink through the ever-present haze of smog like fireflies.

Not that either of them have ever seen a firefly.

Still. It is about as scenic a view as one is likely to find in the Horde. And hard to get to besides.

It has always been one of Uthvir's favorite hiding places.

Aili looks at them for a moment. Sitting out on a ledge with their bare feet swinging in the open air. Curled in on themselves. Miserable.

Not so different from how they looked when she first met them.

"Hey," Aili calls out to them softly, "Mind if I join you?"

"I suppose there is not much I could do to stop you," they reply, still sounding bitter, "After all, you _are_ my superior officer."

"Look," she begins, walking over to sit beside them, "I agree with you. It sucks that I'm the only one who got a promotion. I _wanted_ to move up with all of you. Really. But…this is what I've been working for my whole life. I can't just turn it down. I understand why you're upset, but…I was hoping you could try to be happy for me, too?"

Uthvir glances over at her, brows furrowed. Considering.

Then they sigh.

"Fine," they grumble, shoving the badge they stole earlier back at her, "It is not as though I was really gunning for promotion, anyway. I don't care about that stuff. It would just be nice to get out of this miserable dump for once in my life."

"And you will!" Aili exclaims, "This is a setback for our plan, but it's not too bad. I'll just have to move up by myself for a little while, and once I've earned some clout, I'll request you on my team specifically. Then it'll be you and me against the world, just like we always planned." 

She leans over and playfully nudges her shoulder against theirs.

"Think you can live with that?" She smiles.

"Well. I guess it's not the _worst_ idea you've ever had," Uthvir smirks, still not looking completely happy.

"Oh, I can come up with a _much_ worse idea than that," Aili laughs, holding up the keys to a skiff, "See?"

Uthvir blinks.

"Are you crazy?" they wonder, "You want to bust out of here after they just made you an officer?"

"Oh, come on," Aili shrugs, "One little joyride is hardly a reason to demote me. Besides, we'll only get in trouble if we get _caught_."

Uthvir snorts.

"Okay," they agree, "But I get to drive."

~

Uthvir is a _terrible_ driver.

It isn't even that they are particularly bad at handling the skiff. Aili almost thinks she could deal with that. They are just moving _unbearably_ slow.

"Come on!" Aili complains, "Open up the throttle on this thing or we're not even going to make it half a mile outside the Fright Zone before daybreak."

"I will go faster once there is nothing around for us to hit," they promise.

"There's nothing around us right now!" Aili points out, gesturing to the badlands surrounding them, "There's just sand and rocks! And more sand! It's not a joyride if you're not having any fun!"

"I am having _plenty_ of fun!" Uthvir retorts sourly.

"Yeah, well, if I'm getting demoted for this, I'm going to at least take this thing faster than five miles an hour," she declares, snatching the steering rudder away from them and pressing down on the accelerator.

Aili screams in delight as the skiff speeds off across the deserted landscape.

Uthvir screams for a very different reason.

"What are you _doing_?" they demand, trying to grab the rudder back from her.

"I'm living my best life!" Aili replies with a manic sort of giddiness, still struggling to keep control of the skiff to herself.

"You are going to get us both killed!" Uthvir hisses, finally wrenching the helm back from her.

"Uh…Uthvir?" Aili says, sounding suddenly nervous.

"What now?" they snap.

"TREES!" Aili shouts, ducking down to avoid getting hit full in the face with a branch.

Uthvir curses, just managing to turn the skiff in time to keep it from running headlong into what seems to be an enormous forest.

"What is this place?" they wonder aloud.

"It must be the Whispering Woods," Aili gasps, sounding just the slightest bit afraid, "No Horde Patrol that has gone in there has ever come back out again…"

"The what now?" Uthvir frowns.

"Oh, come on, Uthvir," Aili hisses out in exasperation, "This is why you shouldn't skip out on the orientation before the drills. We just had a review on this place this morning."

"Well, who knows what all they make up for those stupid things," they retort defensively, "All those Princess names sound way too dumb to be real. Sparkle Palace and La-la Land. Right."

"Dumb name or not, we should probably stay out of this place," Aili says.

Uthvir shoots her a grin.

"I thought you wanted to have _fun_?" they ask, grabbing hold of the controls again and steering the skiff into the trees.

"And I thought _you_ wanted to stay alive!" Aili shrieks back at them, trying to wrestle the steering rod back under her control.

The skiff veers wildly back and forth through the trees as the two of them squabble and try to get the other to yield their hold on the driving mechanism.

It is, perhaps, less than surprising when the skiff makes a sharp turn to avoid one especially large tree trunk, and Aili catches a vine across her throat that tugs her violently from the relative safety of their vehicle and sends her plunging down into the dark shadows of the foliage below with a terrified scream.

"Aili!" Uthvir yells back to her in a panic, still trying to get control of the skiff as it rushes through the woods haphazardly.

She does not know how much time has passed when she opens her eyes again on the forest floor, but the soreness in her limbs and a egg-sized lump on her head would suggest that she likely hit several objects on her way down. 

She groans as she sits up, spitting out a few leaves. There is no sign of Uthvir, and the trees all look more or less the same to her eyes. She can barely see the light from the moons down here, let alone use them to figure out which direction she should start walking in.

Well. This is not good.

There is another light, though. A blue-white brightness shining through the leaves up ahead.

Aili moves quietly towards it. It does not seem to be making any noise, so the light is most likely not emanating from some huge magic beast or something, but this is still enemy territory. For all she knows, it could be one of those murderous princesses.

Further investigation reveals no rebels or monsters, however. The light leads to a small clearing. For a moment, its radiance is almost to blinding to endure. But then it subsides, and Aili sees the object that must have been emitting the light.

A sword.

A broadsword by the looks of it. An intricate golden handle with a strangely wide crystalline blade. A single gemstone at the base of the hilt the same bright blue as Uthvir's right eye. It is stuck in deep into the ground and overgrown with vines.

"Cool," Aili grins, already thinking about the numerous ways she is going to rub it in Uthvir's face that their stupid prank nearly killed her AND got her an awesome weapon that she has no intention of sharing.

Well. Maybe. If they ask _really_ nicely.

She reaches out a hand to pull the sword from the vegetation that has encased it.

And the world goes white around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...this got unexpectedly HUGE on me. I wanted the ending to line up with the end of episode one in the show, but I was already 12 pages in and...T_T
> 
> NEXT CHAPTER. I will get to the fun glowy magic stuff NEXT CHAPTER. (I hope)


End file.
